Meanwhile, the Chennai-based ReGen announced the launch of 1.5MW wind turbine, suitable for low and medium wind speed sites, during the ongoing Wind Power India conference here, the company said in a statement.

The new third generation turbine was developed in cooperation with technology partner – Vensys Energy AG, Germany.

“V-87 is an evolution of ReGen’s proven 1.5MW technology platform and the order win of 279MW worth Rs 1,800 crore during pre-launch of V-87 is a testament to our customer’s confidence..” ReGen Powertech, Managing Director, Madhusudan Khemka said.
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The state government expects to overcome the power shortage from December, and would have around 500 Mw of excess power

The lack of interest from the Centre in linking northern and southern grid and allowing more transmission lines to carry power to the southern states is increasing the power crisis in the south including Tamil Nadu, alleged Natham R Viswanathan, state electricity minister.

Delivering his inaugural address in Energy – 2012: Vision 2023, a seminar organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, he alleged the state could not get the power, which it has to get through agreement with Gujarat, due to the constraints in transmission lines.

“In the current situation, even if a state is power surplus, there is no transmission line available to transmit it to another state. There is only one transmission line for the four states and work on another line is in the progress now,” he said.
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The consultancy firm says light emitting diode (LED) lighting will be at the heart of such a revolution. The LED lighting market in India is at a nascent stage in a market dominated by CFLs and incandescentBSE 0.00 % bulbs.

Poor penetration is due to high upfront cost of LED lighting systems, absence of standards, testing, measurement and verification protocols, and low level of awareness.

The government has said that PSUs seeking coal mines in the upcoming auction process will have to furnish details on status and development of mines already alloted them.

“The applications (submitted by the government companies) should also contain details of the steps taken for development and the status of area containing coal already allotted to the company and also the details of the end-use plants,” the Coal Ministry said in an official memorandum.

The details of the end-use plants would include location, capacity and status of financial closure, the memorandum said.

The applications submitted by the government companies for coal blocks shall contain detailed jurisdiction with reference to the requirements of the company, the existing linkages and the area containing coal already allocated, it said.
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Of the nations participating in the Doha Climate Change Conference, India holds an unenviable distinction—it faces what is probably the greatest challenge to electricity access in the world. About 75 million of its 226 million households are bereft of power, the largest such demographic globally.

This is a debilitating situation for an economy straining for growth. In its vast hinterland, agricultural demand is so high that about 20 per cent of India’s total power demand is accounted for by water pumps. And, the paucity in its households is so acute that Indian families spend about $2.2 billion to buy heavily subsidised kerosene every year, according to an International Finance Corporation report. Much of this is in rural areas, where the electrification rate hovers around the 50-per cent mark.

A solution, however, isn’t elusive. For some time, off-grid solar power has been proposed as a possible answer to India’s power-deprived rural hinterland. Yet, when the ministry of new and renewable energy brought out a road map for solar power in 2010, the target for off-grid generation stood at a mere two gigawatts by 2022. During the same period, grid-connected solar projects were mandated to generate 10 times the amount. (DOHA DIPLOMACY)

But in the much-vaunted race to grid parity, where the price of solar power is equal to that from conventional grids, it is off-grid solar power that is likely to win in India, says KPMG’s partner (energy & natural resources), Santosh Kamath. “In remote or rural areas, the cost of an alternative, mostly diesel, is higher. And, to get the grid up to those regions is very expensive….In some cases, grid parity is already there,” he says.
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Determined to meet the target of providing electricity to all households by 2017, power minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said he has requested the Finance Minister to allocate Rs 36,000 crore under the 12th Five Year Plan for a flagship rural electricity programme. Replying to queries during the Question Hour, Scindia said the government will provide power to 5,74,000 households in the next five years under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY).

“I have requested the finance minister to allocate Rs 36,000 crore for RGGVY to meet this target of providing power to 5,74,000 households,” he said. Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj was not impressed with Scindia’s reply and said several districts and villages have not yet been included in the RGGVY. She cited the example of Raisain district in Madhya Pradesh. The minister, however, maintained that Raisain has now been covered under RGGVY.

Several members complained that transformers provided under RGGVY get burnt. Replying to question, Scindia said the reason for this is overloading due to unauthorised connections/illegal hooking, connected load being more than approved load in households given connections under the scheme and bypassing of the protection system leading to transformers getting burnt in case of overloading or fault. Bihar is the worst affected state with 6,236 RGGVY transformers getting burnt, followed by Jharkhand (4,392) and Orissa (1,451).
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India is probing allegations that suppliers from the U.S., China, Taiwan and Malaysia sold solar cells in the South Asian nation below cost and whether retroactive duties should be imposed.

There’s “sufficient prima facie evidence” to warrant an investigation into the dumping claims filed by local manufacturers Indosolar Ltd. (ISLR), Jupiter Solar Power Ltd. and Websol Energy System Ltd. (WESL), India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a Nov. 23 statement on its website.

The investigation will include imports of both crystalline- silicon and thin-film photovoltaic cells sold in the country between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2011. Suppliers, importers and users of the cells have until Jan. 2 to respond to the allegations, it said.

CERC summons CMD / PSPCL for payment default
Thursday November 29, 2012
New Delhi
Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has summoned Chairman –cum-Managing Director (CMD) of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) for default in pending payment of power over drawl from northern grid.
CERC has earlier directed CMD PSTCL to ensure that all pending dues are cleared by October 31. In case the defaulting amount is not liquidated respondent was directed to show cause why action should not be taken for non-compliance of order as per provisions of Unscheduled Interchange (UI) Regulations.
Northern Region Load Dispatch Centre (NRLDC) has reported earlier that a sum of Rs.282.63 crore including surcharge is outstanding against PSPCL towards UI charges as on August 31 this year. On the date of hearing on November 17, NRLDC submitted that Rs.188.71 crore is still outstanding against PSPCL.
During course of hearing the representative of PSTCL & PSPCL submitted that due to cash crunch PSPCL was not in a position to make lump sum payment . PSPCL committed that they will make weekly payment of Rs.11 crore and will clear all the bills by March 31 2013.
CERC was however, constrained to note that PSPCL is not paying attention to payments it deserved. PDSPCL was over drawing power from grid at the cost of other constituents. It is obligatory on the part of PSPCL to make payment for consuming power which legitimately belonged to other constituents. The action of PSPCL has created impediments in the operation of the commercial mechanism.
CERC has directed CMD PSPCL to appear before CERC on December 18 with a firm payment schedule for liquidation of arrears.

NEW DELHI: In a veiled criticism of government policies for allotment of coal blocks, Congress MP and industrialist Naveen Jindal, whose company JSPL is caught in a row over mines allocation, today said except India nowhere in the world allottees were asked to set up power, steel and other plants.

“What is the government looking for,” the Chairman of Jindal Steel and PowerBSE 0.28 % (JSPL) said at a coal summit here, expressing doubts that more than 50 per cent of the allocatees, despite huge investments, would not be able to mine the fuel given hurdles in their way.

One question that is often asked is that while the government has given so many coal blocks why only 15 per cent of them have started operations, he said, adding, “I feel not more than 50 per cent will ever start because they are very challenging.”

India is expected to have 89 gigawatts (GW) of installed wind power capacity by 2020 and attract $16.5 billion annual investment according to India’s Wind Energy Outlook 2012. This would hypothetically help prevent the emission of 131 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

“Today we face a formidable challenge in meeting our energy needs and providing adequate and affordable energy to all sections of society in a sustainable manner,” said Farooq Abdullah, union minister for new and renewable energy while releasing the report.

India is the third largest annual wind power market in the world and provides business opportunities for both domestic and foreign investors. The country’s wind power sector experienced record annual growth in 2011 with the addition of more than 3 GW of new installations and $4.6 billion in investments.

With an energy demand-supply gap of 8%, peak shortages are at 11-12 % and grid access is not available to more than 55% of the rural population, maximising the potential of renewable energy sources, Abdullah said.
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